The director of Half Human, Ishiro Honda, is best known for directing kaiju and tokusatsu films in the 1960’s. His most famous work includes the original Godzilla, and it’s subsequent sequels. Half Human tells the tale of a group of friends who spend the weekend skiing and get more than they bargained for when they cross paths with a snow monster and a remote group of villagers. A group of zoologists enter the picture and attempt to seek out the snowman for scientific purposes, even going so far as to trick the natives in leading them to the beast. The film is from 1958, so needless to say, the special effects are pretty cheesy. The movie attempts to pull on your heart strings, even including a baby snow man, but ultimately leaves you laughing. It has all the fixings of a stereotypical movie of the time: corny dialogue, exaggerated and dramatic sound effects, and a snow man costume that looks something out of a vintage Halloween party. I was surprised to find that this movie had a solid plot line; a lot of movies I’ve picked up from this store had turned out to be some sort of soft-core pornography. The english version of this film features American actors, such as John Carradine, discussing the film as a flashback of events. While this may sound like your typical monster-genre movie; it was taken out of circulation for portraying the native villagers as inbred and uncivilized. While it’s no Godzilla, Half Human is a solid effort by Honda and an all-around decent low-budget monster movie. 7/10

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The Baltimore police officer who drove the van that transported Freddie Gray has been found not guilty on all counts. Officer Caesar Goodson was charged with second-degree depraved heart murder, second-degree assault, manslaughter, misconduct in office, and reckless endangerment. Freddie Gray, who had a criminal record, died while in police custody after he sustained transport-related injuries that put him in a coma.

Officially, Gray’s death was ascribed to injuries to his spinal cord. His hospitalization and death resulted in  protests involving more injuries and more arrests. The civil disorder turned worse after Gray’s funeral on April 27, 2015  when riots by violent mobs resulted in looting and severe property destruction. The violent riots prompted Governor Larry Hogan to declare a state of emergency. The deployment of the Maryland National Guard to Baltimore soon followed as did the establishment of a curfew which was lifted several days late on May 3, 2015.

After reading the not-guilty verdict, Judge Barry Williams ruled that the failure to seatbelt Gray was not criminal. Protestors have already formed on the streets of Baltimore protesting Goodson’s acquittal and have not showed any signs of slowing down.

More details to follow as the fallout continues from the Freddie Gray verdicts .

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Tim Kaine

Kaine is a senator from Virginia and former governor. A quick google search shows that Kaine was born in Minnesota and grew up in the Kansas City area of Missouri. He holds a BA in economics from the University of Missouri and went on to graduate from Harvard Law School in 1983. He practiced law specializing in representing people who had been denied housing due to disability or race. Interestingly enough, Kaine is a practicing Roman Catholic (shocker), and while privately against abortion; has encouraged lawmakers to focus on the importance of abstinence. How well that’s going to go over with the more liberal side of Clinton’s supporters is up for debate.

Elizabeth Warren

Warren is arguably the most well-known name on Clinton’s short list. She is a current US senator from Massachusetts and former Harvard Law professor. She grew up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to middle class parents and attended George Washington University on scholarship at the age of 16. After getting a degree in pathology from the University of Houston and attending Rutgers School of Law, she began working as a lawyer. For many years, Warren voted Republican before switching to Democrat, and has stated that she votes for both sides due to her belief that neither party should dominate.

 Julian Castro

Castro is the lesser known name on the Clinton shortlist, but has an impressive resume. He was the mayor of his native city San Antonio, before being appointed the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by Obama in 2014. He is the twin brother of Joaquin Castro, a  US Representative. He graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in communications and political science and went on to Harvard Law School. He is an advocate for LGBTQ rights but is no stranger to controversy; he was criticized for facilitating the sale of foreclosed homes to Wall Street firms.

These are the possible candidates as Clinton’s running mate.  Although the person she selects will be announced in a few short weeks,  she may still surprise the American public and go with someone else.

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On Monday, Iowa voters cast their votes for their candidates for the 2016 Presidential Race. The Iowa Caucus is the first major electoral event of the nominating process for candidates who wish to run for President.

Outside of Iowa, viewers watched as the Republican and Democratic hopefuls waited on the results. On the Republican end, senator Ted Cruz was declared the majority winner with 27.6% of the votes with Donald Trump finishing second with 24.3% of the votes. Marco Rubio finished third with 23.1% of the votes, Ben Carson behind him at 9.3% and everyone’s least favorite Bush, Jeb, took 6th place with just 2.8%.

On the Democratic side, Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are neck and neck; with Clinton taking in 49.9% of the votes and Sanders 49.6%. Finishing in dead last is a Martin O’Malley who received 0 votes.

52 Democrat and 30 Republican delegates were elected in last night’s Iowa Caucus.

The next stop for all Presidential hopefuls is the primary in New Hampshire. The New Hampshire Primary will be held on Tuesday, February 9, 2016.

Stay tuned to SEV for next week’s results.

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It’s been a very long year for comedian Bill Cosby. He has been accused by 50 women of sexual assault and rape over the past 3 decades. There have been countless headlines, television specials, and magazine articles written about the formerly beloved Cosby Show actor. While no formal charges had been made before, this marks change.

Cosby was arrested in Pennsylvania in relation to an 2004 incident involving a Temple University employee. Andrea Constand alleges that Cosby drugged and assaulted her while she worked as the manager for the women’s basketball team. Originally, investigators dropped her case, citing a lack of evidence. However; in light of new testimonies from other victims, the case has since been re-opened. Pennsylvania has a 12-year statue of limitations law, which is why he is still able to be charged. Cosby was held on $1,000,000 bail and released almost immediately after being booked on charges. If convicted, Cosby faces up to 10 years in prison.

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Martin Shkreli, the 32-year old pharmaceutical executive and the most hated man of 2015, has just been indicted by the FBI for securities fraud; stemming from an investigation conducted by his previous tenure at MSMB Capital Management. He is accused of running a Ponzi scheme by using funds from Retrophin to pay back investors. He and co-defendant, attorney Evan Greebel, are accused of illegally funneling millions of dollars in cash and Retrophin stock through fake consultation appointments.

Shkreli has been making waves across headlines the last few months for a wide array of reasons. The most note-worthy being his purchase and price hike of Daraprim. Shkreli purchased the patent for $55 million and raised the price from $13.50 to $750.00 per pill. Daraprim is used to treat toxoplasmosis and AIDS. The move was met with backlash and after promising to lower the price of the medication, Shkreli went back on his word. Martin Shkreli also made headlines after purchasing the coveted Wu-Tang album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin at an auction for $2 million.

Shkreli has maintained his innocence and has stated that he “is confident he will be cleared of all charges.” Is karma coming back for Shkreli for his questionable morals, or will the wannabe wolf of wall street beat the charges? If convicted, Shkreli is facing 20 years in prison.

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Scientology was founded in the 1950’s by L. Ron Hubbard, who was previously a science fiction writer. The congregation has caused scandal over the past 5 decades from allegations of abuse and mistreatment of members to even breaking into the U.S IRS Building in the 1970’s to remove files that were “unfavorable” to the church. The church has also garnered the support of many famous celebrities such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Laura Prepon, Will Smith, and Beck. While Scientology is a considered a religion (only for tax purposes), many countries such as Chile, France, and Israel have labeled it a cult.

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Having seen Lights play at bigger name festivals before, I was delighted to finally get a chance to experience an “actual” Lights show. Irving Plaza was packed full of eager listeners and fans, like myself, ready to see the main act. Opening up with a b-side off Little Machines titled “From All Sides”, I knew I was in for something special. Her set design was simplistic, yet mesmerizing and she had a gangle of men quietly playing the various instruments in the background. After playing a few bangers off Little Machines and her previous release Siberia, she picked up her guitar and played an acoustic song from each of her 3 albums. Having tweeted earlier about wanting to “bathe in Reeses” (who doesnt??), she was showered with the peanut butter candy on stage. Someone even threw their cell phone, which she graciously took and filmed a video on before giving it back to the lucky fan. She then hypnotized the audience with a rendition of her song Portal. For such a small women, she has an incredibly powerful and soothing voice. After playing favorites like “Running with the Boys” and “Timing Is Everything”, she closed her set with the ever-popular and infectiously groovy “Up We Go”. But the audience was NOT satisfied. After starting a “LIGHTS” chant, she came out to dazzle us one more time with “Banner” her ode to peace and love, especially in a time where the world needs it the most.

All in all, I would rate this show a very rare 10/10. It speaks volumes to me as a writer and as a lover of music that Lights has the energy, the charisma, and the ability to capture the attention of such a large audience, to the point where I noticed that almost no one had their phone out. Everyone at the show was more focused on having a good time and enjoying the music. I, myslelf, put my phone away too. You can buy Little Machines on iTunes now! And you can check out Lights on tour with the Mowglis.

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